US Market Holiday On February 17: Why Will Trading in Dow Jones, S&P 500, Nasdaq Be Closed On Monday?

US Market 2025: The global market leader Wall Street will be closed on Monday, February 17, due to the celebration of Washington's birthday anniversary. Nonetheless, US stock futures in Asian traded range-bound on Monday. Last week, despite volatility in investors' sentiment, Dow Jones' weekly performance was up by 0.34%, while the S&P 500 gained by 1.13% and the Nasdaq Composite index outperformed its counterparts with the upside of 1.8%.

Last week, on Friday, the US market struggled, however, its overall weekly performance outperformed other markets globally.

On February 14th, Dow Jones stood at 44,546.08, while S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite were at 6,114.63 and 20,026.77 respectively.

As per Trading Economics, US stocks struggled for direction on Friday, with the S&P 500 finishing mostly flat, while the Nasdaq gained 0.4% and the Dow slipped 165 points. Retail sales fell 0.9% in January, the largest drop in a year, missing expectations and raising concerns over consumer spending.

Trading Economics data further explained that despite this, markets held steady after a volatile week of policy shifts, including new tariff plans from President Trump and Ukraine peace talks. Investors welcomed a delay in reciprocal tariffs, helping stocks post solid weekly gains. Tech stocks led gains, while Consumer Staples and Health lagged. Among individual movers, Airbnb surged 14.4% on strong earnings, and GameStop rallied 2.6% on bitcoin speculation. Moderna reversed earlier losses, gaining 3.3% after a wider-than-expected loss, while Eli Lilly dropped 3%.

However, the case with Dollar witnessed a drastic roller coaster ride on Friday. The US dollar index plunged sharply to hit below 107 levels against a basket of currencies. The dollar touched its lowest level in more than 2 months. The performance came after weak US economic data and heightened hopes of rate cuts from the US Federal Reserve in upcoming policy. Another key factor that impacted the dollar was the delay in the implementation of Trump's reciprocal tariffs that made other assets attractive.

US Stock Market Holiday:

As per the NYSE and Nasdaq Holiday list, February 17th is a stock market holiday due to Washington's Birthday.

Presidents' Day, officially Washington's Birthday at the federal governmental level, is a holiday in the United States celebrated on the third Monday of February. It is often celebrated to honour all those who served as presidents of the United States and, since 1879, has been the federal holiday honouring Founding Father George Washington, who led the Continental Army to victory in the American Revolutionary War, presided at the Constitutional Convention of 1787, and served as the first U.S. president from 1789 to 1797, as per Wikipedia.

US Market Weekly Outlook:

Nathan Peterson, Senior Derivatives Analyst at Charles Schwab in his note said, "We don't have any significant market-moving catalysts until NVIDIA earnings on Feb 26th or personal consumption expenditures (PCE) on Feb. 28th in my view, and we only have a four-day trading week since markets are closed on Monday in honor of Presidents' Day. Lastly, bond yields have been very cooperative for the bull (10-year yields are at a weekly low right now), which could be bullish for stocks if they continue to ease next week. I understand we are in an environment which entails higher headline risk, but net-net the setup looks favorable to the bulls next week, though I don't think stocks are going to necessarily race higher. Therefore, my overall forecast for next is for "slightly bullish." What could challenge my outlook? If the SPX fails to close at a new high today and falls back into its recent trading range this will likely result in weekly losses."

Key economic data to watch out: Empire State Manufacturing, NAHB Housing Market Index, Net Long-Term TIC Flows on Tuesday (February 18); followed by Building Permits, EIA Crude Oil Inventories, Housing Starts, MBA Mortgage Applications Index on Wednesday (February 19). Also, Building Permits, EIA Crude Oil Inventories, Housing Starts, MBA Mortgage Applications Index on Thursday (February 20), and lastly Existing Home Sales, University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment on Friday, February 21.

Key earnings to watch out for this week: Walmart Inc. (WMT), Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. (BABA), Southern Co. (SO), NetEase Inc. (NTES), Cheniere Energy Inc. (LNG), Booking Holdings Inc. (BKNG), Newmont Corporation (NEM), Live Nation Entertainment Inc. (LYV), Balchem Corp. (BCPC), TXNM Energy Inc. (TXNM), Telephone and Data Systems Inc. (TDS), Analog Devices Inc. (ADI), Garmin Ltd. (GRMN), Clean Harbors (CLH), Wix.com Ltd. (WIX), Wingstop Inc. (WING), Carvana Co. (CVNA), American Water Works Company (AWK), Toast Inc. (TOST), Medtronic PLC (MDT), Vulcan Materials Co. (VMC), Baidu Inc. (BIDU), Watsco Inc. (WSO), Genuine Parts Co. (GPC), Arista Networks Inc. (ANET), Occidental Petroleum Corp. (OXY), Cadence Design Systems Inc. (CDNS), UFP Industries Inc. (UFPI), Noble Corporation PLC (NE), and Transocean Ltd. (RIG).